A Guide to the Norman Earl Steenrod Papers, 1911,
1948-1970

Papers document the
career of Norman Earl Steenrod (l910-1971) at Princeton University, and reflect
Steenrod's research in algebraic topology. Included are a manuscript draft of
his
Foundations of Algebraic Topology, written with S.
Eilenberg, and notes for several lectures. The collection also documents
Steenrod's activities in connection with the American Mathematical Society,
particularly with Mathematical Reviews, the Mathematical Association of America
Committee for the Undergraduate Program in Mathematics, and the School
Mathematics Study Group monograph panel. Material includes correspondence,
drafts, lecture notes, grant proposals, and reports.

Norman Earl Steenrod (1910-1971) was a central figure in the post World
War II development of algebraic topology. Born in Dayton, Ohio, on April 22,
1910, Steenrod attended college at Miami University and the University of
Michigan (A.B., 1932). At the University of Michigan, he took courses by
Raymond Louis Wilder, who guided the preparation of Steenrod's first two
published papers (1934). After taking an M.A. at Harvard University (1934),
Steenrod earned his Ph.D. with Solomon Lefschetz at Princeton University
(1936). Steenrod returned to Princeton permanently after short periods on the
faculties of the University of Chicago (1939-1942) and the University of
Michigan (1942-1947). He died in Princeton on October 14, 1971.

Steenrod's research was in algebraic topology. His
Foundations of Algebraic Topology (1952), written with
Samuel Eilenberg, gave a system of axioms providing a framework for the rapidly
developing field of homology theory. Steenrod's
The Topology of Fibre Bundles (1951) furnished a systematic
treatment of the previously disorganized field of bundle theory and an
influential account of homotopy theory. Steenrod's study of homology
classification led to his work on cohomology operations, in particular to the
Steenrod algebra.

The Norman Earl Steenrod Papers comprise records of Steenrod's books,
research grants, and lectures (7 in.), and his work for several mathematical
organizations (10 in.). Steenrod's research interests are represented by a
manuscript of
Foundations of Algebraic Topology (1952), written with
Samuel Eisenberg, by notes for several lectures, and by material relating to
research grants (1963-1970). Records of the preparation of Steenrod's
Reviews of Papers in Algebraic and Differential Topology,
Topological Groups, and Homological Algebra (1968) are included.
Steenrod's work for the American Mathematical Society is represented by records
(6 in.) of the Colloquium Committee (1962-1970) and the committees on
Mathematical Reviews (1964-1966), the manual for authors
(1959-1966), and the organization of the 1963 Summer Institute. Steenrod's
interest in education is reflected in records of his work with the Mathematical
Association of America's Committee on the Undergraduate Program in Mathematics
(1966-1969) and the preparation of his
First Concepts of Topology, written with W. G. Chinn (1966)
for the School Mathematics Study Group Monograph Panel. Smaller amounts of
material document Steenrod's editing of the
Annals of Mathematics (1962) and his attendence at the 1967
Summer Rencontres in Mathematics and Physics.